Skift Take

The meetings business tells a story about itself of strength and resilience, but sustainability and increased pressure on planners pose as obstacles to sustained growth.

Greetings from Germany, where IMEX Frankfurt is in full swing with meetings and events professionals from around the world.

Despite the usual rigamarole about the power of events and their positive economic impact on destinations, many expressed concerns about not just the sector’s sustainability bonafides, but the health of the industry overall.

Consolidation in meeting space distribution is exacerbating these issues for planners, leading to frustration for many around the world.

Check out my story from IMEX below. We’ve also got the latest on the evolution of luxury hospitality and the rise of homesharing as an alternative to traditional hotel stays.

If you have any feedback about the newsletter or news tips, feel free to reach out via email at [email protected] or tweet @sheivach.

— Andrew Sheivachman, Senior Editor

The Future of Events and Meetings

Events Sector Searches for Future at IMEX Frankfurt: Industry trade shows often act as a celebration of a sector’s successes. A trip to IMEX Frankfurt, though, shows the meetings and events sector needs to embrace change instead of what has worked in the past.

Keeping Up With the Escalating Standards in Luxury Hospitality: The level of competition at the ultra-premium end of hospitality is unimaginably high, and it keeps getting higher. Extraordinary service and experiences quickly become table stakes as guest expectations continue to skyrocket.

Netherlands Will Continue Tourism Promotion Despite Media Reports: Forget the flashy headlines; destinations need time to respond effectively to overtourism with the cultural fabric of popular locations at stake. The intelligent move is to thoughtfully adjust policies to limit the negative impact of tourism.

Around the Industry

Homesharing Will Take a Bigger Bite of Hotel Market Share: As one of the largest travel sectors, accommodations will continue to grow as travel becomes an even more integral part of consumer lifestyles. Yet it remains to be seen if the disruption from alternative accommodations will fundamentally shake up the entire sector.

Taco Bell Will Open a Boutique Hotel This Summer: There is little doubt that a limited-time hotel offering will attract the fast food chain’s superfans in droves — and result in some extra revenue for the company.

Tata’s Indian Hotels Company to Invest $600 Million in Buying New Properties: New fully operational hotels will be purchased in partnership with Singapore wealth fund GIC Pte., with deals announced through the end of 2022.

Subscribe

Skift Senior Editor Andrew Sheivachman [[email protected]] curates the Skift Meetings Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Wednesday.

Subscribe to the Skift Meetings Innovation Report

Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch

Tags: imex, meetings, meetingsiq

Photo credit: The trade show floor at IMEX Frankfurt. Andrew Sheivachman / Skift

Up Next

Loading next stories